Finland 4, USA 3 FINAL

[teme]

Pheeeeeeeeew! Now I know how I´ll die. 2030 olympics, Finland-Sweden quarterfinals, Sven Svensson reduces to 1-2 at 56.44........

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Matti_A]

My opinion on the game and the Finnish team:

Goaltending - Niittymäki was solid. Nothing spectacular, but got the job done. DiPietro was shaky and not at his best. None of those goals were completely his fault, but goaltending in general was a big factor in this game

1st line - Completely lost and I think I know the reason. Saku had definitely mentally overcharged himself to the game. His timing was terrible and passing was far from crisp and accurate. Those penalties were quite clear, maybe the 3rd was borderline but for a captain this kind of performance is unacceptable. Saku is the brains in that line and him out of his normal self makes the whole line pretty much useless.

2nd line - Excellent game. Peltonen really stepped up big time and carried that line on his back. They need to keep this up.

3rd and 4th line - Nice hustle here and there, but Nemo's 2 penalties really killed the momentum from our checking game. Third period was horrible, but so was the whole team. Both N. Kapanen and M. Koivu lost countless face-offs when it mattered the most.

D - Decent at best. Salo was a stud out there until his injury and Berg continued his safe and solid play. Nummelin and Timonen were both outmuscled, but Nummelin atleast made up for it by giving some good outlet passes. Lydman was suprsingly shaky, again (I have to say the same about Numminen) . Overrall, way too many bad passes and turnovers.

The FIN were lucky they won because apart from the 1st period, Team US outplayed and outworked us by a considerable margin. The 3rd period as a whole was absolutely pathetic. If we don't improve our game we're sure fire 4th place. And that would suck.

Good post, I couldn't agree more.

Let's face it, team Finland was lucky to win today.

This was by far our worst game so far. US deserves some credit also, to be honest you guys would have earned atleast a tie, that third period was pure dominance from your part, even when you were playing shorthanded. You could just feel that panic crawling into the minds of some of the finnish players yet again . We tried to defend a two goal lead the entire 3rd period thinking we were team Sweden or something. What a painful game to watch at the end.

I hope this was the "bad game" of the tournament for us. Niitty was good though, little shaky at first but in the end he saved our bacon in this one.

I take back all the nasty things I said about Devorski, both teams had questionable penalties called. I was simply caught by the emotions thanks to our commentator Mertaranta. BTW I love how Devorski signals the 2 minute minor penalty

 

[Rabid Ranger]

When was the last time Tkachuk impressed for Team USA?

Oh, I don't know....the 1996 World Cup, the 2002 Olympics, the 2004 World Cup. Tkachuk has played very well internationally for the U.S. and doesn't deserve the flack he's getting here. He was snakebitten, but he did alot of the yeoman's work that doesn't show up on the scoresheet.

 

[Paatos]

I hope this was the "bad game" of the tournament for us. Niitty was good though, little shaky at first but in the end he saved our bacon in this one.

Yeah, the obligatory bad game... I'd say Nitty was solid throughout the game, not much he could have done with any of the goals.

But seriously, what is the major malfunction in the coaching staff? The team totally fell asleep in the third. And if I remember right that wasn't the first time that happened while Westerlund has been at the helm. It's been bad before but not this bad.

I thought keeping the team awake is part of the job as a coach?

 

[Walzy]

What happened to Modano??

does anybody have something new ?

 

[Padawan]

I am not feeling well so I am not going to read the whole thread. So I apologize if some of these what I'm about to say has been said before.

I wasn't convinced at all. Team Finland played good at the start of the game but as the game progressed Team Finlands level of play declined. That's a bad sign. Only Niittymäki, Numminen and Nummelin played well the whole match. Although Niittymäki didn't play as good as I expected. He should have saved Schneider's goal. It was a good and hard shot but I think it was without a mask and wasn't as accurate is it could have been. Anyway, I kinda felt the panic Team Finland had during the third period. Still, a win is a win even if it wasn't a good win. Let's hope that Team Finland can rise from it's knees and stand up for the next challenge.

[bad joke]Damn this "bird flu" I have. My head is killing me at the moment. On the other hand, quack, this might make me a Ducks fan.[/bad joke]

 

[Matti_A]

Yeah, the obligatory bad game... I'd say Nitty was solid throughout the game, not much he could have done with any of the goals.

But seriously, what is the major malfunction in the coaching staff? The team totally fell asleep in the third. And if I remember right that wasn't the first time that happened while Westerlund has been at the helm. It's been bad before but not this bad.

I thought keeping the team awake is part of the job as a coach?

Heh, I know what your saying, the whole tournament I haven't been able to understand how a team coached by Westerlund could play that good.

Today was "good old" Erkka coaching , where was the timeout we needed so badly towards the end

He's a brilliant assistant coach, but quite frankly not competent as a head-coach.

We need someone to kick their *** when their playing like they did today in the 3rd period. I want Summanen back

 

[Oilers Chick]

Congrats to Finland on the win and want to wish their team continued success.

IMO they deserved it alot more than our boys did. I didn't get to see the whole game, but what I did see of it, I was very disappointed inTeam USA's undisciplined play and their inability to capitalize on their opportunities. I thought Nittymaki played quite well and hope that Sami Salo will be ok and won't be out for too long.

P. S. Will some PLEASE tell JD that Laaksonen went to the University of Denver NOT Denver University!

 

[TK79]

My thoughts exactly.

same here.. When I turn 60 I have to stop watching these games..

 

[sandels]

Wow, that was an exciting game!

Kudos to USA for playing hard until the end, they showed a lot of heart. They came close but this was not their day.

Finns played a bad game IMO, I was cursing pretty much the whole game for their soft and nervous effort. Pressure was there, but like I've said before, Nitty seems to have the same ice water in his veins as Kipper.

Good games from O. Jokinen, Nitty and surprisingly Aki was one of our best dmen again.

 

[sarge88]

Congrats to Finland on the win and want to wish their team continued success.

IMO they deserved it alot more than our boys did. I didn't get to see the whole game, but what I did see of it, I was very disappointed inTeam USA's undisciplined play and their inability to capitalize on their opportunities. I thought Nittymaki played quite well and hope that Sami Salo will be ok and won't be out for too long.

P. S. Will some PLEASE tell JD that Laaksonen went to the University of Denver NOT Denver University!

While they are at it maybe they could tell JD to retire and never come back to broadcasting under any circumstances.

 

[MissCanuck]

Just heard on CBC... Modano has no injury, he was benched.
Said in the press conference USA hockey needs to change and it has to start at the top.

huhm

 

[Caz]

Finns played a bad game IMO, I was cursing pretty much the whole game for their soft and nervous effort.

Same here.

We were outplayed when US played PK in the 3rd.
I ncouldn't believe my eyes this was the same team
I was watching during the last weekend. Still have
difficulties believing that we actually advanced.

But positive thinking takes over and let's say that
was as close as we come to losing in these games

 

[Famous Flames]

The Finns should not be bashing their team after this game. They beat a desparate US team that has a lot of talent, although it hasn't always shown.

 

[Caz]

They beat a desparate US team that has a lot of talent, although it hasn't always shown.

You're right. It wouldn't have been wrong
at all if US had advanced from this pair.
It was not pretty from us, but US gave one
he*ck of a fight.

Have to be happy we got trough.

 

[Eds]

The quarter finals are always tough. It doesn't really matter how you win these games, as long as you advance. We scored 4 goals and that was enough today.

 

[jepjepjoo]

I just can't believe how solid AKI BERG has looked in the tournament

 

[devsjunkie]

They do have to start at the top. And they also have to rid themselves over guys who are over the hill.

What Team USA lacks that every other team in the quarters had is the element of surprise. Everything they do is telegraphed, and they've spent so much time thinking about what it's going to be that the D is upon them before they even shoot.

You're just not going to have success that way. And especially when your has-beens are skating half as fast.

It's disheartening, but it was surely expected.

 

[DevilsFan38]

Disappointing tournament for the US. They played hard, but they just couldn't finish. They're definitely lacking in natural goal-scorers. Today, though, they shot themselves in the foot with their stupid penalties. Could've gone either way today, Finnish team was just a little more disciplined and had better touch around the net.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Nice game, damn exciting!

USA was a good opponent and tried hard till the end but Finland was just that much better today. Especially 5 on 5. The ref was quite bad for both sides.

Anyway, a nice calm, professional win for the Finnish team, even though they did not play to their best ability today. They still managed to stay between the puck and their own goal very well, and pushed the U.S forwards to the corners. Shots came from far away and bad angles, naturally in a long run some will bounce in...but you cant say those are great scoring chances.

Like I said earlier to some Ville Peltonen bashers...the preliminary round is just not a big enough show for Ville. He needs the game to be important before he will start scoring his garbage goals! (Note: that was actually from the main scoring area, just like Jokinen's second one.)

 

[Gert B Frobe]

Congrats to our Finnish fans!
Now go beat Canada, if they win, so we don't have them rubbing it in our faces.

Now on to some grades for the tournament...

A- Chelios
B Tkachuk (just couldnt finish)
B+ DiPietro (aside from the Finland game, Rick was great. Much better than I expected. I'm just glad Miller wasn't there because I don't think he could have helped this team any more than DiPietro did.)
A Cole (threw the body around, used his speed to beat several defenders to teh net.

I'll let y'all take the rest of 'em.

disagree...

F Chelios

F as in FAIL.

Can't wait to see him in 2010, he'll probably be faster

 

[mattihp]

I just can't believe how solid AKI BERG has looked in the tournament

Aki usually looks like a defensively smarter Janne Niinimaa on the national team. Still some brain farts, but nothing huge.

 

[Broad st phantom]

I expected the US to lose, but they played hard and im happy with that.
Since Nitty is in net, back to being a flyers fan.

go win this you Finnish bastids

 

[Ross MacLochness]

From what CBC showed of this game... Finland needs to smarten the hell up for next game against Russia.

Standing still, took 2 penalities while on the powerplay. No urgency to score while on the powerplay in the 3rd -> possibly the biggest mistake a hockey team can make.

They play their best when they play smart defensively, but an agressive in-your-face style first. Enough of this standing still, passive trap bullshite.

Don't know where Saku's head was this game, he should be much better on Friday.

 

[sandels]

I just can't believe how solid AKI BERG has looked in the tournament

Aki has been solid because he doesn't try to be too cute with puck and just plays it simple. He doesn't force the pass that is not there, no cross-ice passes, he just simply swats the puck out of d-zone along the boards. He seems to know better than try to play beyond his abilities.

Aki also has been surprisingly disciplined in physical play.

Keep it simple Aki!